“I’ve tried. They must have me blocked out for some reason.”
“Just wonderful.”
“We’ll find her, Iz,” Brannie continued to promise.
“Brannie!”
Hearing Celyn calling out to his sister, Izzy stopped and looked up. The dragon landed in front of them, his claws slamming hard into the ground.
Brannie pushed past Izzy and Éibhear. “What is it?”
“Have you seen Princess Agrippina today?”
“No, but—”
“I hear her,” Éibhear cut in. He pointed to some nearby trees. “I hear her voice on the other side of—”
Éibhear suddenly dove at Izzy, dropping them both to the ground.
Celyn watched his cousin throw himself and Izzy to the ground just as the hottest flames Celyn had ever experienced torched the trees close to them.
Trying to move out of the way, Celyn gave a painful yelp as flames lashed across his back leg. The fire was so powerful, it cut past his scales and into flesh.
Never. Not once in his existence, had Celyn ever been burned by flame. How could he be? He was made of fire.
Brannie ran to his side once the flame stopped. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Celyn realized he’d forgotten about Agrippina and scrambled to his claws. He ran to the woods, limping a bit because of his wounded leg, while the others followed behind him.
He found Princess Agrippina standing in the middle of a burned-out field, her eyes coldly watching one of her personal guards trying to crawl away from her. Her flame had destroyed half his body, but he wasn’t dead yet.
“I don’t understand,” she said softly as she stared at her fellow Iron. “Why would they kill me? I’m more valuable to them alive.”
“Are you sure that’s what he wanted to do?” Éibhear asked. “To kill you?”
“He said something about smiting me in the name of his god . . . whatever that means.”
“She’s right,” Celyn said. “She’s worth much more alive than dead. That’s why Vateria never killed her.” He glanced at Agrippina. “She kept control of your brother by keeping you a prisoner.”
“But then—”
Celyn held his claw up, and Éibhear immediately fell silent.
“We have a problem,” Celyn said as he faced the small group. “This wasn’t the only assassin sent out today. Boys in town saw messages given to others. Messages like this one.” He held up the scroll that Robert and his friends had given him. “This one had Agrippina’s name and a time. I think there are other attempted assassinations taking place at this very moment.”
“So what are we waiting for?” Izzy demanded. “Let’s go—”“I don’t know who the others are. And I can’t reach anyone.”
“What do you mean you can’t reach anyone?” Brannie asked.
“I’ve been calling you since I realized what was going on. Did you ever hear me?”
Brannie shook her head.
“Do you hear me now?”
“No.”
“Then I can’t reach anyone.”
“He’s right,” Agrippina chimed in. “I can’t hear my brother. And he never blocks me.”
Closing his eyes, Celyn started to talk out loud as his brain quickly sorted through the information they had. “Annwyl said that it felt like Abertha was trying to get her to kill her.”
“To turn Abertha into a martyr,” Éibhear said.
“Right. Even the guards who challenged Annwyl . . . I don’t think they actually tried to kill her. They wanted Annwyl alive. Yet this time they wanted Princess Agrippina dead. Why?”
“That makes absolutely no sense,” Izzy said. “Annwyl and Rhiannon are war queens. They should be the first to die, because if something happens to any of their allies or someone close to them—”
“Gods,” Celyn breathed. “That’s it. They want war. They want to cleanse the lands of what they consider the Abominations. Those who don’t follow their beliefs. Their god. And they know Annwyl, Rhiannon, and with the death of Agrippina, King Gaius will bring that war even if we’re not ready.”
And they weren’t ready. Not even close.
“But you said there were others,” Brannie reminded him. “Other targets besides Agrippina. We need to know who they are.”
“The assassins are going after the ones whose deaths will start a war and those . . . who can prevent war.” Celyn faced the group again. “Brannie, go to Da’s house.” Without waiting, Brannie shifted to her dragon form and took to the air. “Izzy and Éibhear . . . you need to get to Dagmar. Now.”
As his cousins charged off, Celyn focused on the confused Mì-runach. “You lot, you’ll stay with Agrippina. Protect her with your lives.”
“And what are you going to do, Queen’s Guard?” one of the Mì-runach asked.
“I should go with my sister, but . . . I feel like I’m missing . . .”
“Are you actually going to finish a sentence?”
“The queen.”
“Yeah. Our queen. The one you are sworn to protect. Remember her?”
“My mother’s with her. No one will be able to . . .”
“You need to finish a bloody thought,” the Mì-runach complained.